Springfield, MA – After losing on Thursday 5-0, the Bentley Falcons came into Friday afternoon’s tilt against the AIC Yellow Jackets with a more determined focus. That determination, and two goals by junior forward Matt Gosiewski, helped the Falcons earn the extra Atlantic Hockey point on the road. Twenty-eight saves from graduate transfer student Evan DeBrouwer backstopped the Falcons to a 3-4-1 record in Atlantic Hockey action (5-7-1 overall). The Yellow Jackets meanwhile slipped to 3-2-1 (3-7-2 overall)
The Falcons struck first to make it 1-0 at 18:10 when Gosiewski banged in a rebound to the right of Yellow Jackets goalie Alec Calvaruso. Calvaruso (27 saves) paddled the puck to Gosiewski in his attempt to clear the puck from his crease. Danny Pearson and Tucker Hodgson assisted the goal.
Bentley captain Ethan Roswell hit the post on a shot early in the second period.
The two teams traded power plays to no avail. The Yellow Jackets had a short-handed bid at 5:32 but shot wide of goal.
A four-on-four ensued at 7:30 as things got heated after the whistle, Lucas Vanroboys of Bentley and Luka Maver of AIC, was penalized for Hitting After the Whistle.
An Interference call on Bentley’s Matt Clark put the Yellow Jackets back on the man advantage at 11:02. Defenseman Brett Callahan took advantage of the power play situation when he walked in from the blue line and blasted a slapshot past DeBrouwer to tie the game at 1-1. The goal was Callahan’s second of the season. The lone assist went to graduate student Chris Dodero who won the face-off back to Callahan.
Kohei Sato was sent off for Hooking at 14:06, again putting AIC on the power play. Bentley forward had the best chance on the penalty kill when he fired a shot just wide of the AIC net.
AIC had a solid chance with a minute left when Evan Stella blasted a shot from the slot that DeBrouwer stopped. Brian Rigali whacked at the rebound attempt but Bentley was able to keep it out. Then, Yellow Jackets forward Dodero had a look at an open net as the puck still was loose, but Bentley’s Hodgson got a stick on the shot.
In the third, each team had decent chances to pull ahead. AIC forward Rigali hit the post on a baseball swing of a rebound shot from just to the right of DeBrouwer. The Falcons’ best opportunity came with a scrum in front of Calvaruso, but the puck’s bounce went the Yellow Jackets way.
In overtime, the two traded scoring chances right off the drop. The first came for Bentley’s Collin Rutherford when he dinged the crossbar with a shot that beat Calvaruso. Then the Yellow Jackets had a chance on a shot by Galambos that DeBrouwer turned away. The rebound fell to Rutherford, who sent Gosiewski into the AIC zone, where he beat Calvaruso to win it.
AIC will take on Canisius on November 26 and 27 at Harborcenter in Buffalo, NY. Bentley will host Army on the same dates at Bentley Center in Waltham, MA.
